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CHistory
History · Willow Springs

Willow Springs’ post office opened in 1853, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #555 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1900.

1853first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Willow Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Willow Springs began

When was Willow Springs founded?

1853

The Willow Springs post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Willow Spring (1862) and Mount Forest (1875), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 378 in 19002020 census: 5,857173 years

How historic is Willow Springs?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Willow Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Willow Springs’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Willow Springs is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #555 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Willow Springs’ overall grade.
Founding era1853, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194011.0% of homes (±5.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 28%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Willow Springs’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Willow Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18908 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1993. Watch Willow Springs change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Willow Springs.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Willow Springs’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Willow Springs’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStation at Willow Springs, Ill: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Willow Springs, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5001900192019401960198020002020378 in 1900Low: 134

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1900 and 1920, then grew more than tenfold.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Willow Springs’ Wikipedia page.

On the map

Willow Springs on the map, 1890 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Willow Springs. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Willow Springs on the 1890 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1900 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1928 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1953 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1963 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1973 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1980 USGS mapWillow Springs on the 1993 USGS map1890Des Plaines sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Willow Springs.

The story

How Willow Springs came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Willow Springs.

Read it all →

As the French began to explore the region, its position on the Des Plaines River made it a part of the Chicago portage. In would later gain the I&M Canal and the Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1848 and 1900 respectively.

In 1957, the Grimes sisters were found dead in Willow Springs. In 1987, former chief of police Michael J. Corbitt was arrested and convicted of racketeering and murder.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Willow Springs, 1853 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853Post officeThe Willow Springs post office opens
  3. 1862Post officeThe Willow Spring post office opens
  4. 1875Post officeThe Willow Spring post office closes
  5. 1875Post officeThe Mount Forest post office opens
  6. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900In the archiveStation at Willow Springs, Ill
  9. 1905Post officeThe Mount Forest post office closes
  10. 1943In the archiveWillow Springs, Illinois. Waiting in a siding for a passenger train to pass on the Atchis…
  11. 21st century
  12. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 5,857
By decade

Willow Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Station at Willow Springs, Ill1900Station at Willow Springs, Ill
1910s–1930snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
1940s1 item
Willow Springs, Illinois. Waiting in a siding for a passenger train to pass on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railr…1943Willow Springs, Illinois. Waiting in a siding for a p…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today9 recent
Willow Springs Community Center2026Willow Springs Community CenterOld Willow Shopping Center2024Old Willow Shopping CenterBike trail and IL 83 bridge - Willow Springs, IL - October 20232023Bike trail and IL 83 bridge - Willow Springs, IL - Oc…Sanitary and Ship Canal at Willow Springs 12018Sanitary and Ship Canal at Willow Springs 1Our Lady Mother of the Church Polish Mission2018Our Lady Mother of the Church Polish MissionI and M canal near Willow Springs 22018I and M canal near Willow Springs 2I and M canal near Willow Springs 12018I and M canal near Willow Springs 1AT&SF 29C (F3A) with Train -18, the El Capitan (erroneously running as second 18) not combined with Super Chief led by …2015AT&SF 29C (F3A) with Train -18, the El Capitan (erron…Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294)2014Tri-State Tollway (Interstate 294)
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Station at Willow Springs, Ill
Retake this viewStation at Willow Springs, Ill, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Willow Springs’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Willow Springs’s post office has been open since 1853. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Willow Springs
1853–today
Willow Spring
1862–1875
Mount Forest
1875–1905
18501940today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Burr Ridge1 historic placeDHodgkinsIts storyDDowners Grove Township11 historic placesA−Lemont Township4 historic placesA−Lemont3 historic placesA−JusticeIts storyDLyons Township10 historic placesAPalos Township1 historic placeC

Questions about Willow Springs’ history

What year was Willow Springs founded?

The Willow Springs post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Willow Springs rank for history?

Willow Springs is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #555 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Willow Springs?

11% of Willow Springs’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (9), the Library of Congress (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.